Top dogs: Politicians chow down on an American favorite

They munch them at picnics. At ballgames. And, of course, on the campaign trail. Yes, the gobbling of hot dogs somehow helps Washington politicians look more relatable – and the public eats it up. On National Hot Dog Day, POLITICO takes a look back at some of the more political moments in hot-dog-eating history.

President John F. Kennedy, eyes glued on the playing field, munches a hot dog during the American League opener April 8, 1963. The president stayed throughout the game, watching the Baltimore Orioles defeat the Washington Senators 3-1.

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Eleanor Roosevelt cooks hot dogs on an outdoor fireplace as the Roosevelt family celebrates Labor Day with a picnic attended by relatives and friends Sept. 3, 1934, at Hyde Park in New York.

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With Allison Dysart, premier of New Brunswick, as his guest, President Franklin D. Roosevelt munches on a hot dog at a picnic on the beach near his summer home on Campobello Island on July 30, 1936.

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower eats a hot dog April 18, 1960, while he and Vice President Richard Nixon watch the Washington Senators defeat the Boston Red Sox, 10-1, in the American League season opener in Washington.

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Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) makes an unscheduled stop at a hot dog vendor's stand near 59th Street and Central Park in New York City on April 14, 1971.

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President Gerald Ford and his running mate, Bob Dole, eat hot dogs in Dole's hometown of Russell, Kansas, in August 1976.

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Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) looks at a person dressed in a hot dog costume Dec. 18, 1976, during the Kennedy family's annual skating party in New York City's Brooklyn Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood.

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Sen. John Glenn (left), running for the Democratic nomination for president, has a hot dog lunch with longtime buddy Donald Slayton on Dec. 14, 1983, in Houston, Texas. Glenn and Slayton were two of the original seven astronauts.

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President Ronald Reagan has a laugh as he offers to buy hot dogs for baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn (left) and Baltimore Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams (right) as they sit in the dugout at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore on April 2, 1984. The vendor gave each a hot dog but refused to take the president's money.

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Russian Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin (left) is served a hot dog as Vice President Al Gore gets a sandwich at Katz's in New York on Jan. 31, 1996.

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President Bill Clinton eats a hot dog with Franklin Raines, director of the Office for Management and Budget, on Dec. 2, 1997, in downtown Washington. The two were attending the inaugural event at the 20,000-seat MCI Center, where the NBA's Washington Wizards played the Seattle SuperSonics.

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Former President George H.W. Bush arrives, hot dog in hand, with son Neal Bush (right background) at Enron Field in Houston on April 7, 2001, where the Houston Astros were hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates won 5-3.

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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) speaks with the hot dog grill man during an impromptu stop April 26, 2004, at the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe in Beaver, Pennsylvania.

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Hot dog in hand, former Sen. Fred Thompson greets fairgoers at the Minnesota State Fair on Aug. 27, 2007, in Falcon Heights.

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama eats a hot dog at an Independence Day picnic in Butte, Montana, on July 4, 2008. At right, wife Michelle carefully watches his diet.

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Because you can only take so many photos of politicians eating hot dogs without wanting one yourself, White House photographer Pete Souza holds a hot dog as he walks the grounds of the South Lawn of the White House during the Congressional Picnic on June 15, 2011.

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President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron eat hot dogs March 13, 2012, as they watch the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First Four at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

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Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is handed a hot dog as he visits The Varsity restaurant during a campaign stop Aug. 18, 2015, in Atlanta.